The invention relates to food products and their preservation and, in particular, to foodstuff preserved by an acidification process.
Food products are commonly preserved by canning processes or by freezing processes. Canning is relatively expensive due to packaging costs and inefficient space utilization. Often, the heating treatment in the canning process is detrimental to the color and body of the food solids being canned. Cans are troublesome to open and are environmentally unsatisfactory. Freezing can be relatively expensive when shipping and storage costs are considered. Frozen food products, moreover, can require additional time for heating when finally being prepared for consumption.
It is known that food products can be rendered shelf-stable against botulism and bacteria growth if they are stored in an acidic condition with a pH of 4.6 or less. A problem regularly encountered in foodstuff existing in an acid state strong enough to be shelf-stable is a sour or tart taste that may not be considered palatable for most food products.
Commercial food preparation at the point of consumption poses concerns, for example, in terms of quality, consistency and cost. This is particularly true at fast-food retail establishments where food is prepared daily and where the labor force is largely unskilled and varies from day to day and shift to shift. Consistency under these circumstances is difficult to maintain particularly where preparation involves numerous steps.
The invention provides a method of preserving foodstuff with sufficient acidity to make it shelf-stable, but which leaves it surprisingly low in sourness or tartness. The method utilizes phosphoric acid to achieve the required acidity. It has been found that the inherent sour or tart taste of the phosphoric acid is limited and, if desired, can be readily masked with appropriate addition of a sweetener such as sugar.
The invention provides a way of preserving foods, such as vegetables or vegetable-based foods, which can utilize a plastic pouch or other inexpensive package and that avoids the need for detrimental heat treatment, such as in canning, to prevent spoilage.
The invention is particularly suited for use with dry beans that can be simultaneously rehydrated and acidified for preservation. An example of a large market for such rehydrated beans is the restaurant trade for making chili.
In accordance with the invention, the rehydrated and acidified beans can be combined with other acidified constituents of a specified chili mix. The acidified chili mix can be economically packaged in a conventional heat-sealed pouch. The ability to combine all of the constituents of a chili mix, except for meat and/or water, has numerous advantages to a restaurant operator. The restaurant or restaurant chain can deal with a single supplier to more easily control quality and cost. Mistakes in making up a batch of chili from several separate constituent packages at the restaurant is eliminated.
The disclosed preservation process produces a rehydrated bean that typically has more firmness or body and better color than that ordinarily obtained from like beans which are subjected to conventional canning preservation techniques.
If desired, a natural or artificial beef tallow can be introduced during the bean treating process of the invention to provide a tasty bean in the final product, with less overall cooking time than would be required to obtain the same taste by conventional cooking methods.
Compared to traditional procedures where cans of beans are used in a chili recipe, the present invention, besides offering more full bodied beans, reduces packaging costs by substituting an inexpensive plastic pouch for a more expensive can. Moreover, a pouch offers less weight to ship, denser packaging since the voids between cans are avoided, no risk of a finger being cut on a raw can edge and less disposal problems including environmental concerns, compared to a can. Compared to frozen packages of beans, the pouch of the present invention is cheaper to store and ship since there is no concern of maintaining the package below freezing temperatures. Additionally, the room temperature of the pouch kit of the invention reduces cooking time when compared to the use of frozen packages.
The disclosed preservation treatment of the chili components prior to pouching is compatible with essentially all of the typical components of a chili mix apart from any beef or other meat content. In fact, the invention can be used to produce a vegetarian chili kit that is served essentially as it is packaged in a pouch with no meat content. There is no degradation of flavor or consistency during shelf storage of the pouch when prepared in the disclosed manner.